Humble Access

It's Sunday and church this morning. It reminds me of the little bedtime prayer our mother taught us years ago and my brothers and I were required to say. It went, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." You know, when you think about that prayer, it requests about everything that you really need for yourself in a general way. It, however, only covers the important stuff you need for yourself as an individual. It's narcissistic, but fits in well with the Ego Development of most children, if they are honest. The only other concession is the quick God Bless to cover the parents and siblings and any other support staff ! I was 14 and my brothers were 10 and 6. We all slept in the same room, but went to bed at different times. Our mother made sure Philip, the 6 year old knelt at the bed in an attitude of humble access, like the good Anglicans we were. He had to say the prayer out loud. Ken, who at 10, went to bed a little later , was permitted to say his prayers on his knees without supervision. I, at 14, said my prayers silently, and instead of kneeling in an attitude of humble access, I confess, I lay in bed and made a feeble concession to access by putting one foot on the floor. God is good. He didn't hold it against me. SO FAR! He knew I was just a kid.


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